Monday, 29 August 2011

A rough sketch of a city building: a kind of Frankenstein creation made by combining bits and pieces of different art nouveau buildings I was looking at, then adding my own touches to make sure the end result was somewhat cohesive.

I love the verdigris on the windows that buildings from the era have, so I used a bright teal against the sepia tones to get that feeling.

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

I went to my local park to do some research for the backgrounds of my film.Bushy Park in Terenure has a beautiful woodland area with a river and a small constructed ruin, that makes for some great reference material.

Here are some of my favourite shots from my visit:

It's a pity that the poorly-drawn graffiti inside the ruin takes away from the scenery of the place.

Sunday, 21 August 2011

Another sketch of the fairy Queen, finally she's looking how I imagined her.
I was really inspired by the artwork of Elric of Melnibone, a series of fantasy novels. Yoshitaka Amano did a lot of work on this series, and his artwork from this period is very sharp; set in dark fantasy landscapes with figures shrouded in or emerging from the shadows.

I still have to figure out which fairy Queen she is: Titania seems too overdone. So will she be a Gloriana, Meabh or Lorelai? Decisions, decisions.

Monday, 15 August 2011

A test of possible colour schemes for Alva.
Originally, the character was going to be totally monochrome, but I thought that choosing a bold, simple colourscheme would create more visual punch.
I love working with colour, especially rich, vibrant colour combinations.

Sunday, 14 August 2011

I am getting closer to the look I want for the film, and nailing down how the main players will look.

Designs of trees:

These trees are based on the art nouveau style to fit with the general period of the piece.

Some sketches of my main character, Alva:

Alva is a kind of goofy character, not very elegant, with big expressions.

Test designs of supporting characters

"The Fairy Queene":

The Queen of the fairies needed to be a contrast to Alva, very refined and regal.

Since earlier sketches, I've pared her features down, giving her less wild expressions than other characters.

A pixie/imp:

This character is very small, but I didn't want him to be too cutesy, because that wouldn't fit with his cheeky, somewhat abrasive demeanor. I think he came out looking a tad like a scruffier cousin of the Rice Krispies elves...

Monday, 1 August 2011

Here is some more concept artwork for my upcoming film, some visual tests:

This is a test render of a background I've been working on - a forest. It's a very a different setting to the Art Deco city, but I'm trying to keep some visual cohesiveness by taking inspiration from Art Nouveau, Deco's more flowery cousin. The trees were designed to be stylised, using real trees as a basis then simplifying their shapes.

These are some quick character sketches of another character (and small fairy). She is based on Cate Blanchette (as Galadriel, naturally), and a little of Julia Roberts too. Her colour scheme was inspired by artwork of Elric of Melniboné, the main character in a series of novels by Michael Moorcock.